For most of his career, Steve Buscemi has never had to get out of the way of his own image. Now he has to worry about it, but only a bit.

Whether he’s playing the loveable knucklehead (The Big Lebowski, Airheads) or the volatile hoodlum (Reservoir Dogs, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo), the Brooklyn-born character actor has always been versatile enough to escape typecasting.

His recent starring stint as the scheming Atlantic City politician Nucky Thompson on TV’s popular Boardwalk Empire, currently shooting its fourth season, threatens to make him famous for a single role.

Is this why he chose to go the opposite route for his new movie The Incredible Burt Wonderstone? As the flaxen-haired Anton, loyal and naïve pal and partner to Steve Carell’s title Las Vegas magician, Buscemi, 55, couldn’t be further from Nucky’s conniving ways.

There’s a bit of truth to the escape-from-Nucky theory, Buscemi carefully allows on the line from Vegas: “I certainly wouldn’t want to play in a film right now something or someone who resembles Nucky.”

But for the most part his role choices “just naturally happen. They’re not something that I’m aware of. To me it was a no-brainer to do this film with all the talent that was involved. Steve Carell, Jim Carrey . . . that was a simple choice.”

Q: Anton’s a pretty colourful character, isn’t he?

A: I love him. He’s so open and has a big heart. He’s wears his heart on his sleeve.

Q: With Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Alan Arkin and a game Olivia Wilde, the Burt Wonderstone cast has a lot of comedy talent. Did it make you want to up your game at all?

A: They’re all just so much fun to work with. Yeah, there’s a little nervousness going in but from first day of the read-through — with everyone sitting around the table just reading it — I could just tell it was going to be a fun time.

Q: Were you interested in magic at all as a kid?

A: Yeah, I had a magic kit, and I still like doing card tricks for my nephews. It helps when you’re 8 years old and not at my level. I can trick an 8-year-old.

Q: The film addresses the idea of fading stardom, the reality of the public getting tired of certain acts and moving on to other attractions. But you’ve managed to maintain your career for decades. Do you attribute that to anything?

A: I work at it. I’ve been lucky to work with a variety of different people and different genres and I’ve kept it interesting for myself. If that translates out into the world, then I’m glad.

Q: So the key is to keep things fun in the hopes that others find it similar?

A: It’s good to look for ways to challenge yourself and to take risks. I think that’s something that was brought out in the film — Burt and Anton have come to a point in their careers and they need to change it up. They needed to do something different and probably breaking up was the best thing for their act.

Q: Your role as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire is easily a career highlight for you. How is season four coming along, and how do you view his character, having played him for three seasons now?

A: We just started shooting. I view him as a guy who just enjoys life and is trying to get by. He likes being a politician and is sort of lonely. He bears a lot of responsibility . . . but it really weighs on him. I see him as a very complicated character.

Q: How much has playing Nucky affected your role choices? What do you look for in a potential role these days?

A: I don’t look for anything. If something comes to me and I see an opportunity to do something different, then I take it. In this case, playing Anton in Burt Wonderstone —besides having wanted to do something different, even if I wasn’t Nucky Thompson — I’d still want to play this role. It’s such a wonderful role.

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